Queen of Hearts
by ArtofTotalInsanity
Summary: What starts as an innocent wish from a lonely high school girl grows and florishes into so much more. Friendship... Adventure... Destiny... Courage... Danger... Love... Are you strong enough to see what the cards hold for you? FemYuugi, Puzzleshipping


**Chapter 1- Three of Hearts**

Opportunity;

_The chance for betterment that one should never miss or overlook._

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* * *

_

_Deep in the mysterious, forgotten recesses of Egyptian past, there is a legend. A legend speaking of Pharaohs, and of games played with dark magic and monsters, where only one of the players walked away with their soul and sanity intact. However, this magic grew and flared out of control, threatening to overtake all of Egypt before it was sealed away in the seven mystical Millennium Items and finally subdued, never to be used again._

_Three thousand years later, an expedition team in Egypt unearthed the Millennium Puzzle in a Nameless Pharaoh's Tomb in the Valley of the Kings. The excitement over the historic find quickly turned to shock though, when the entire team died of mysterious and brutal causes, the last one living long enough to say something about a 'Shadow Game.' For fifty years, the Millennium Puzzle passed hands. Museums, Private Collectors, Egypt Enthusiasts… None had any success at solving the puzzle and obtaining the mysterious power the legends spoke of. Most died in their attempts to do so. Eventually, the Puzzle ended up in the possession of Mutou Sugoroku, owner of the Kame Game Shop in the Domino District. It was here that the Puzzle would rest for another seven years before falling into the hands of Sugoroku's young granddaughter, Mutou Yuugi, and starting a chain of events that would change the world…_

* * *

"Come on, Yuu-chan! Hurry up and find something! Your Ojii-san will be back any minute, you know!" Huffing slightly, the young brunette put her hands on her hips as she glared sternly up at her friend, who was struggling up a ladder with a determined look on her cherubic little face.

"I'm trying, Anzu-chan." Seven year old Mutou Yuugipleaded quietly with her friend, glancing nervously towards the back room her grandfather had disappeared through a few moments earlier. Her elderly caretaker would come back after handling his phone call, and Yuugi wanted to find a game for her and Anzu to play before he came back and caught them.

"I told you I should have been the one to climb up there, Yuu-chan." Anzu sighed, frowning at her friend. "I'm better at climbing and stuff then you." Yuugi felt herself flush at that, unable to deny the truth of her friend's words. Though Yuugi was good at games and strategy, she was horribly uncoordinated and clumsy, leaving her athletic abilities sorely lacking. Anzu, on the other hand, was tougher then most of the boys in their class, and really, _really_ good at sports and stuff. She could even do a _cartwheel_! Still, despite their vastly different interests and personalities, the two girls found an unlikely companionship with one another that made the pair as thick as thieves.

"But you wouldn't know what to grab once you got up here, Anzu-chan." Yuugi reminded her friend apologetically. "I know games better then you, so I could find something we'd like faster." Anzu made a face at that, but didn't argue with Yuugi's logic. Yuugi really did know all the best games, after all, and she was good at anything she played. She even beat their sensei at some weird riddle she made up, which got the class out of doing arithmetic homework for a whole week. Reluctantly, the brunette decided to bow to her friend's superior knowledge at games, leaving the tri-haired girl to her mission.

Yuugi smiled to herself as she reached the top of the ladder as Anzu fell silent down below, silently relieved that her friend wasn't arguing anymore. Setting herself to her task, the child's bright amethyst eyes immediately started sweeping the dusty shelf for anything that the two girls might find fun. A glint of something shiny caught Yuugi's attention as she was halfheartedly considering an old box dominos, prompting her to gently push aside a box of checkers to see what it could possibly be. Her eyes widened at the sight of a golden box, engraved with the hieroglyphics her grandfather showed her when he told her about his adventures as an archeologist.

Captivated by the dusty chest, Yuugi carefully pulled it closer, wiping away years of filth with her tiny fingers. Something about the strange, pretty golden container seemed to call out to her, drawing her into its world. She was so focused on the artifact that she didn't hear the urgent warnings Anzu hissed at her from below, or notice her grandfather's reappearance into the main shop.

"_Mutou Yuugi!_" Jumping slightly at her grandfather's bellow, Yuugi felt dread pool into her stomach as she lost her balance on the ladder, falling backwards to be caught by her grandfather. Reeling for a moment in shock, the seven year old looked up to find her normally easygoing guardian's face was warped into an ugly expression of fury as he set her back on her feet.

_Uh-oh…_

"What were you thinking, young lady? You could have broken your neck, climbing up that ladder! What if I hadn't been here to catch you?" Wincing at her grandfather's anger, Yuugi looked shamefaced down at her feet, her throat to tight with guilt to answer the old man's question.

"It was my fault, Ojii-san!" Anzu piped up hastily, jumping to stand in front of her friend. "I wanted to play a game, but we couldn't find one we liked down here! Please don't be mad at her!" Yuugi was shocked for a moment at her friend's admission before jumping forward to grab the brunette's arm, not wanting the other girl to get in trouble.

"B-but Anzu-chan, I'm the one who suggested we look at the top shelves!" She reminded her friend. Looking back up at her grandfather's frowning face, Yuugiquickly added. "I know I'm not supposed to use the ladder, but you were on the phone, and Anzu-chan has to leave soon for her ballet class. We just wanted to find a game we could play really fast until her mama came to get her."

"Mazaki-san is already here, Yuugi. That's what I came in here to tell you two." Sugoroku sighed, his expression softening a little. "She's in the back, Anzu-chan. You shouldn't keep her waiting." Anzu hesitated for a moment, glancing back at Yuugi uncertainly. She clearly didn't want to leave her friend when she was in trouble, but disobeying the grown ups would just make things worse in the long run. Sensing her friend's turmoil, Yuugi smiled encouragingly at the girl.

"Go on, Anzu-chan. I'll be okay, I promise." Anzu didn't seem to believe this, but relented nonetheless. Giving the other girl a quick hug, Anzu darted around back to find her mother, leaving the two Mutous alone. Shrinking slightly at the look her grandfather was giving her now that her friend was gone, Yuugi returned to looking at her feet. "I'm really sorry, Jii-chan. Please don't be mad." She said quietly. Sighing, Sugoroku motioned the girl forward, pulling her into his lap as he took a seat on a nearby chair.

"I'm not mad, Yuugi. I almost had a heart attack, but I'm not mad. What I am is disappointed. You know that climbing the ladder and playing with the games is against the rules, young lady. Those rules are set to keep you safe from getting hurt, and you know better then to break them." Sugoroku scolded the girl, who looked close to tears at her grandfather's words. Shaking his head, the old man frowned softly at his grandchild, deciding to take a new approach. "I can't tell you how much it would hurt me to lose you, Yuugi. Promise me you'll be more careful in the future? For my sake?"

"I promise." The girl said, nodding solemnly at her grandfather, her pigtails bobbing in the motion. Sugoroku smiled at the girl in approval at the reply before glancing down at the item clutched in her hands.

"Now, what is it you have there, hmm?" he asked, his smile widening as his granddaughter's violet eyes widened in surprise as she followed his gaze down to the box, which she had forgotten all about in her grandfather's anger. Blushing, Yuugi held out the golden treasure chest for her grandfather's appraisal.

"I found it up on the shelf, before I fell." Yuugi explained guiltily, missing the way her grandfather's eyes widened at the sight of the box.

"The Millennium Puzzle?" He said, taking the gold box from the girl and blowing off the dust the girl failed to wipe away. "My goodness, I forgot we even had this…"

"It's a puzzle?" Yuugi repeated, looking confused. Chuckling, Sugoroku nodded as he opened the box up to show the young girl the glittering gold contents of the box. Fascinated, Yuugi leaned in closer to better inspect the pieces, bringing a smile to Sugoroku's face as her eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. "It doesn't look like the jigsaw puzzles I play with, Jii-chan."

"No, the Millennium Puzzle is much more difficult then any jigsaw puzzle, Yuugi." Sugoroku laughed. "Brilliant men have been trying for years to solve it, with no success. It doesn't help that people think the Puzzle is cursed, either."

"Cursed?" Yuugi repeated in alarm, her hand freezing where it was hovering over the pieces. Nodding, Sugoroku drew himself up to look as ominous as possible to his granddaughter then he was fighting the urge to laugh at her wide-eyed stare.

"The Millennium Puzzle was found in Egypt a long time ago, Yuugi, by archeologists like your Jii-chan. But after it was found, all the archeologists died mysteriously. Because the legends say that the person who solves the Puzzle will inherit a great power, people believe that the Puzzle had a curse, which is why the archeologists died." Fascinated, Yuugi turned back the puzzle in front of her, cautiously reaching for it again as if afraid that the gold pieces would snap up and bite her hand off. After hesitating for a second, the girl lifted one of the most prominent pieces up, inspecting the eye-like design embossing out of the gold.

The same strange feeling she had when she first laid eyes on the box settled over the girl again as she examined the gold piece, almost overpowering with it's presence. Tracing the eye carefully with her index finger, Yuugi's eyes lost focus as she got lost in the strange feelings the treasure gave her. There was something there… an ancient secret, complex and dark, but not threatening. Not to her, at least. The seven year old didn't really understand the complexities of the magic she was feeling, but there was one thing she could tell almost instantaneously…

"It's sad." Yuugi told her grandfather with a worried frown.

"Sad?" Sugoroku repeated, eyebrows raised. "The story about all the archeologists dying, you mean?" Shaking her head, Yuugi held the piece she'd commandeered out for her grandfather to see.

"Not the story, the Puzzle. It feels sad, like it's crying." The girl said solemnly.

"The Millennium Puzzle is crying?" Sugoroku repeated, holding in a laugh as his granddaughter nodded. "I see… it must be sad that no one can solve it then, hmm?"

"So if someone solves it, the Puzzle won't be sad no more?" Yuugi clarified, brightening. Leaning forward, the girl pressed on eagerly. "So, can I try to solve it, Jii-chan? Please?" She abhorred the idea of the puzzle being left up on that lonely shelf again to gather dust. "I promise I'll take good care of it! It'll be my special treasure!"

"You want to try?" Sugoroku chuckled, handing the gold box to his granddaughter. "Be my guest, then. Perhaps the Puzzle will grant you a wish as thanks, ne?" Sugoroku grinned as Yuugi squealed in delight.

"Really? I'll get a wish? Like a genie?" The girl asked as she accepted the box from the old man. Before Sugoroku could correct her, his granddaughter threw her arms around his shoulders in thanks before racing up the stairs to start working on her newfound treasure, oblivious to her grandfather's chuckling as he watched her go.

_Ah well, no harm in letting the girl dream…_Sugoroku didn't have much hope in the seven year old solving a puzzle that everyone before her had failed to complete, but he figured it would be nice to humor the girl until she got tired of tinkering with the artifact. Shaking his head as he stood up, Sugoroku smiled to himself as he recalled his granddaughter's words.

"Crying puzzles… what an imagination my granddaughter has!" the old man muttered to himself in bemusement as he grabbed some cleaning supplies and began the tedious task of tiding up his shop. His granddaughter and the puzzle were quickly put from his mind as he worked, while the child herself frowned determinedly down at the pieces spread out before her on her little work table in her room.

"Don't worry, Puzzle-san, I'll help solve you no matter what, I promise!" The seven year old whispered to the Puzzle before her. Nodding in resolve, the girl quickly reached for the pieces to try and figure the complex puzzle out, unknowingly setting into motion a task that would take her eight years to complete, and change her life forever.

* * *

_Domino Secondary School, Class 1-B (Eight Years Later)_

"Alright! Free period! Time to play some basketball!" Standing up, the student stretched leisurely as he shouted to be heard over the chatter of his classmates as the students spilled out the door.

"The girls should play, too!" One of his friends suggested with a sly grin and he threw an arm around the other boy, cries of approval going up from the other boys at his suggestion. The first boy grinned back, halfway out the door when a form caught his attention, prompting him to turn around.

"Mutou-san, you oughta come with us!" the boy invited the quiet girl, earning a surprised look from the slender young teen as she looked up from the Rubik Cube she had just about solved. Flushing under the attention the boys gave her, Mutou Yuugi shrank back into her seat shyly.

"No, thank you." She said quietly, shaking her head. "I'm not good at sports. I'll just get in everybody's way."

"Oh come on, don't be like that!" One of the boys encouraged Yuugi with a grin. "We'll help you learn to play, right Kisuke?" Kisuke opened his mouth to respond when a new voice cut him off sharply.

"Forget it, Nashimo. Mutou's even more hopeless at sports then she is at fashion." One of their female classmates said coolly, looking down at the tri-haired girl over her nose with a delicate sniff as Yuugi tried to melt into her seat. "Just leave her here, alright? It's not like any of us will miss her…" Yuugi felt a stab of pain at the girl's words as the boys shot her a hesitant look before following the popular redhead girl out to the basketball court.

Yuugisighed quietly to herself in the now empty classroom. She had grown used to being alone more and more as she and her classmates grew up and finally entered their first year of high school, since her refusal to give up on 'kiddy games' and the fact that she was uncomfortable with short skirts, low-cut tops and makeup had made her a subject of ridicule among her peers. It hurt, yes, but it was still a feeling that she was accustomed with. Shaking her head, Yuugi dismissed her depressing thoughts from her mind, frowning angrily at herself. Really, what was the matter with her? She should be trying to do something other then sitting around feeling sorry for herself! Like trying to finish her treasure.

Brightening considerably at that thought, Yuugi immediately dug through her bag to bring out a golden box she now knew inside and out, her smile widening at the sight of it. Her grandfather still thought she was being silly whenever she talked about the puzzle having feelings, but Yuugi still got the feeling that the Egyptian artifact was happy every time it saw her. Her face softening, Yuugi ran her fingers gently across the lid of the box, a familiar gesture that made Yuugi feel like she was greeting an old friend.

_Then again, I've been working on the Puzzle for so long now, it sort of _is_ an old friend to me._Yuugi reminded herself with a slight giggle. True, trying to solve the Puzzle was frustrating sometimes, and she had felt hopeless in her mission more then once, but Yuugi couldn't bring herself to give up after coming so far. She knew she could solve the puzzle, even if no one else believed it, and nothing was going to stop her from completing that task-

-Except the hand that just snagged the Puzzle's box out of her grasp.

"Ah!" Yuugi shot up, startled. Somehow, without her noticing, two of her classmates had reentered the room and made their way to her while she was lost in her thoughts, commandeering her precious treasure for themselves.

Yuugi's heart sank slightly when she recognized them as Honda Hiroto and Jounouchi Katsuya, two of the rougher boys in the class who often bothered her about her awkward social graces. Jounouchi especially seemed determined to get Yuugi to leave her childish games behind and join the world of adults. While Yuugi appreciated that the two wanted to help her, she couldn't say she liked the way they went about doing so most of the time. Like now.

"My treasure!" Yuugi cried out, leaping out of her seat to follow a snickering Honda as he held the golden box out of her grasp. "Please, give it back! It's very important to me!"

"Treasure, huh?" Honda taunted, tossing the box up and down with one hand and grinning at the look of horror on Yuugi's face as a melodic clinking noise of metal hitting metal chimed out every time the box landed back in his palm. "What, you keep your jewelry in here or something, Mutou?" Glancing at the box, Honda squinted to read the tiny writing Yuugi had made on the hieroglyphics she'd translated (with some help from her grandfather) in the hoped that it would help her solve the puzzle. "_'This treasure can be shown, but you cannot see it?'_ What the heck does that mean?"

"N-nothing! Please be careful Honda-san, that's very valuable!" Yuugi pleaded, trying desperately to reach around Honda for her box as the tall boy twisted to keep it out of Yuugi's reach.

"Jounouchi, catch!" Honda called out as he tossed the golden box to his friend, his grin widening as Yuugi cried out in dismay. Jounouchi easily caught the box, an eyebrow raising as Yuugi whirled on him in an attempt to get her box back.

"Jounouchi-san, _please_!" the girl half sobbed, as she tried yet again to rescue her puzzle from her tormentors. Jounouchi rolled his eyes at her pitiful attempts.

"What's so valuable about this thing, anyways?" The blonde asked, opening the lid to peer inside. Catching sight of the golden pieces inside the box, the boy scowled darkly to himself. Really, more of these stupid kiddy games? Didn't this girl ever learn her lesson? Closing the lid, Jounouchi scoffed at the small girl in disgust, shaking his head in annoyance. "Urg, how lame. Haven't you given up on this crap already? How many times are ya gonna make me repeat myself? Ya gotta grow up and stop playing with these stupid toys, Mutou, or else people are gonna keep walking all over you!"

"I don't care, Jounouchi-san. I _like_games." Yuugi explained, a hint of exasperation in her otherwise timid voice. "A-and anyways, I don't see how it should make a difference, one way or another!"

"Che, such a kid." Jounouchi mocked, grinning slightly at the furious blush that crossed Yuugi's face. Snickering, the blonde tossed the box back to his friend, not wanting to leave the other boy out of the fun. "Heads up, Honda!" Dismayed, Yuugiwatched as the box flew over her head and towards the waiting hands of the smirking teen. Before Honda could complete the catch though, it was intercepted by a smaller, more feminine hand. Surprised, both boys and Yuugi turned to meet the scowling face of the class representative, Mazaki Anzu.

"If it's lame, then give it back to Yuu-chan!" the girl snapped at Jounouchi and Honda, who froze at the sudden appearance of their fiery classmate. Yuugi, on the other hand, could have shed tears of joy at the sight of her childhood friend.

"Anzu-chan!" The smaller girl cried out in relief, rushing to the brunette's side. Anzu patted the girl on the back in a comforting manner, without letting up on the glare she was directing at the class's delinquents.

"Honestly, don't you idiots have anything better to do then bother poor Yuu-chan?" The girl asked irritably, making Jounouchi and Honda flinch before they both made a break for the door, yelling threats and promises of retribution in their wake. "Get lost you lowlife bullies! You two are the worse!"

"Thank you, Anzu-chan." Yuugi breathed in relief as the two left her in peace at last. Smiling at last, Anzu patted her friend's head affectionately as she returned the Puzzle to Yuugi's grateful hands.

"Don't mention it, Yuu-chan. I know you don't like fighting with people, even if they're a couple of jerks like that, and there's no way I could just sit by and watch as a sweet girl like you got picked on."

"They aren't that bad, Anzu-chan." Yuugi admitted guiltily, glancing at the door Jounouchi and Honda had disappeared through as she sat back down in her seat. "Jounouchi-sanjust wants to help me, I think. I don't exactly fit in with anyone, after all…"

"There's no excuse for him to act like that, Yuu-chan!" Anzu groused, making a face as she claimed the desk in front of Yuugi's, turning to her childhood friend as she talked. "I know you like to believe the best of others, but even you have to admit that stealing your treasure was needlessly cruel!" Worrying her lip between her teeth, Yuugi's gaze fell at her friend's words, studying the gold box that was now clasped protectively in her hands. Sensing that Yuugi didn't want to talk about the subject anymore, Anzu sighed heavily and pushed her anger to the back of her mind to dwell on later. Right now, she should concentrate on spending a little time with Yuugi, since the two of them hadn't really hung out in a while, between school and her secret part time jobs. "Never mind, Yuu-chan. How are you doing with the puzzle, anyways? Any progress?"

"A little." Yuugi said, smiling gratefully at her friend for the change of subject. The wispy little high school girl hated talking bad about others, even if they weren't nice to her. "I keep getting stuck, though. It's sort of frustrating sometimes, but I just can't give up! It's way too important to me."

"Good for you, Yuu-chan!" Anzu said, giving the smaller girl an encouraging grin. "I'm sure you'll get it soon! Then you'll get your wish, right?" Blushing, Yuugi nodded shyly to the brunette, earning a rather sad smile from the other girl in turn. Though Yuugi refused to tell her what her wish was, Anzu knew her friend well enough to guess at what it could be, and for some reason Anzu couldn't help but feel a bit guilty about it.

"But even if I don't get my wish, that's okay." Yuugi said quickly, misinterpreting her friend's look. "I just… I feel a deep connection to the puzzle, Anzu-chan. Like, I have to help make it better again." Anzu giggled at her friend's wording. At first, it had been a little strange and confusing to hear Yuugi speak of the puzzle like it was a person, but after thinking it over for a while, Anzu figured it wasn't _that_weird, since people talk to inanimate objects all the time (The gods only knew how many one-sided fights she had had with her moody washing machine). Andin a way, Anzu did agree that she felt sorry for the puzzle, considering it's past and the lonely state the puzzle was in when Yuugi had found it.

"You will, Yuu-chan. Just keep working on it, okay?" Anzu said confidently, earning another bright smile from the violet eyed girl as she opened the puzzle's box and began tinkering with the parts. Shaking her head at the childish joy on Yuugi's face as she tried to fit pieces together, Anzu chatted cheerfully with the other girl as she worked, her anger at Honda and Jounouchi slipping away as she began catching up with Yuugi as much as possible…

* * *

"That little bitch!"

…The same, however, could not be said of Jounouchi towards her.

The blonde punk scowled bitterly over his shoulder at the door of the classroom he'd just left, and the brunette that had been the one to force him out. He wasn't really afraid of Anzu, but the nosy, pushy girl seemed like the tattletale type, and he didn't need to get into trouble with the teachers when he was already working himself practically to the bone to try and pay off his own school fees, since his drunk, slacking debtor of a father couldn't be trusted to do so himself, and his mom was too busy worrying about Shizuka and her hospital bills to even give a passing thought to her wayward son.

"Who's she callin' a bully, anyways?" Jounouchi asked Honda sourly as he stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"That would be us." Honda quipped back, bemused. He wasn't as concerned as Jounouchi, and now that they were out of eminent danger of Anzu's wrath, he had quickly put the incident behind him and was more then happy to find a new source of entertainment. Messing with the weird little game girl would have only be fun for a little while anyways, since Yuugi was too meek to do anything…

This thought was knocked out of Honda's head as he collided with what felt like a brick wall that had cropped up out of nowhere. A surprised grunt from Jounouchi told Honda that his blonde friend had done the same as the boy turned to see what had obstructed their path.

Only to feel his blood run cold at the sight of a familiar third-year that was easily three time his and Jounouchi's size.

"Did you guys say something about 'bullies?'" the large boy said, looking ominous.

"And what if we did?" Jounouchi shot back, fearless as ever, before Honda slapped his hand over his friend's mouth.

"There's nothing in the world I hate more then a bully!" the senior growled before lumbering away. "You two better hope I don't hear about you picking on anyone…"

"Oh, you won't! No sir, not at all!" Honda quickly assured the mammoth, one hand firmly pressed over his struggling friend's mouth until the other student was out of sight. Once the cost was clear, Honda released Jounouchi and rounded on his friend with a hiss of, "Have you lost you freakin' mind? That was Ushio, you know! He's a nutcase about morals and bullying! What would possess you to pick a fight with that guy? If you wanna commit suicide fine, just leave me outta it!"

"Hah! Ushio doesn't look that tough! I could take him!" Jounouchi said confidently, dismissing his friend's concerns. Rolling his eyes, Honda decided to change the subject before Jounouchi got it in his head to charge after the senior to prove himself or something.

"Forget about him, Jounouchi. What can we do now? I'm getting bored." His anger cooling, Jounouchi smirked at his friend wickedly before withdrawing his hand from his pocket.

"If you want something to do, I got something in mind." The blonde sang out mockingly. Curious, Honda leaned in closer to inspect what his friend had in his grasp, his eyes widening as a single golden eye, embossed into a piece of metal with weird, jagged edges, stared right back at him.

"What's that thing?" Honda asked cautiously, feeling a little creeped out for some reason.

"Part of Mutou's 'treasure.'" Jounouchi answered, clasping his fist around the eye and missing the way that Honda looked at him in alarm. "I snuck it outta the box when she wasn't looking."

"You sure you should be messing with that, man?" The brunette asked worriedly. "I mean, she said it was valuable…" Not that Honda had believed her before, but now he was starting to have his doubts. After all, that eye thing looked like the sort of stuff they saw on their field trips to the museum…

"Ha! She probably meant in some cheesy, emotional way." Jounouchi scoffed at his friend's worry. "You think her old man would let a weak little thing like her walk around with something that was worth some real cash? Please!" Seeing his friend's point, Honda relaxed.

"So? What are you gonna do you it?" Honda asked curiously. Flashing him a grin, Jounouchi turned to open a nearby window.

"Teachin' her a lesson, that's what." Jounouchi said over the clattering noise the window made on it's track. "All that 'Treasure you can't see' crap… I'm gonna turn that stupid riddle into 'It was a treasure, but now the treasure's lost… Like _this_!" And with that declaration, Jounouchi threw the piece out the window, watching with a small sense of satisfaction as it sank to the bottom of the school's swimming pool.

_Game and treasures and all that crap…_Seriously, how old is Mutou, anyways? Jounouchi thought to himself in disgust. How long did the naïve little twit think she could stay in her imaginary world of fun and games? Sooner or later, Mutou would have to put her toys away, grow up and become a functioning member of society. And really, all Jounouchi was doing was helping open her eyes to that fact. _Better she learn it now, then later down the line when it's really gonna hurt._

Shaking his head, Jounouchi turned from the window to walk away, Honda following behind him without hesitation.

Life was cruel. And the sooner Mutou Yuugi learned that, the better.

* * *

Around the corner, Ushio smirked to himself as he thought about what he'd just heard the two punks discussing.

"Mutou, huh?" the large senior mused out loud, casting around in his memory until he finally recalled a slender, shy little underclassmen from 1-B. Mutou Yuugi, if he remembered right. Chuckling to himself, Ushio grinned wickedly in the direction that Honda and Jounouchi had disappeared towards before continuing leisurely on his way.

Yes, he could definitely use this to his advantage…

* * *

**Insanity-** Hello! So nice of you to join me on the first chapter of my insane little adventure into the Yugioh fandom! XD I've been lurking fanfiction for a while now, under a few different pennames, and I've tried all sorts of things, but this is my first dive into a genderbender. I know they're common, and can get a little cliche sometimes but this idea would. Not. Let. Me. SLEEP!

'eyetwitch'

...So yeah... As I was saying, I'm gonna try to make this story as interesting and fun as possible, for both my sake and anyone who was gracious enough to give my lovely little travesty here a change by reading this far into it. It'll be a little darker in some places then the original storyline (which is saying something) for a while before it lightens up, but I won't go overboard into the OMG!CUTTER!RAPE!CHILDABUSE!SADFACE! stuff that makes me want to beat my skull in with a lawn gnome. Also, the Pharaoh (Yami-Atem/u-Whatever-the-Hell-You-Guys-Wanna-Call-Him) will probably keep about 90% of his bitchy holier-then-thou attitude that he had when he was first released, simply because I love Bitchy!Pharaoh-Yami-Atem/u. End of Story.

And speaking of stories and ends and such, you guys do realize this is the end of the first chapter, right? So, you're gonna press that button down there and tell me what you think, riiiight? If you don't, then I'm gonna sit here staring at you guys like a weirdo until you do.

o . o


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